Association between characteristics of nursing teams and patients' aggressive behavior in closed psychiatric wards

Abstract

PURPOSE: Estimate the effect of nursing, shift, and patient characteristics on patients' aggression. DESIGN AND METHODS: Follow‐up study on a closed psychiatric ward was performed to estimate the effect of nursing team characteristics and patient characteristics on the incidence of aggression. FINDINGS: The incidence of aggression (n = 802 in sample) was lower in teams with >75% male nurses. Teams scoring high on extraversion experienced more verbal aggression and teams scoring high on neuroticism experienced more physical aggression. Younger patients and/or involuntarily admitted patients were more frequently aggressive. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: These findings could stimulate support for nurses to prevent aggression